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Lyander Blundren
Lord Lyander is consort to Lady Ela Blundren, a vassal of the Kingdom of Thalmes and one of its most powerful nobles. Before his marriage, he was a mercenary with a career ranging ten long years, with plenty of combat experience. He is an able commander and a strong swordsman, though he lacks even a drop of proper noble blood. This doesn't really mean much, as a good portion of the high nobility of the kingdom isn't even proper nobility. After acting as a spy in Billiam, he was given command of a small army by Lord Archos and told to take the city. This led to the successful Siege of Billiam, which resulted in Lord Perse swearing fealty to the Crown. Upon reporting back to Lord Archos, he was knighted for his efforts. Following that, he negotiated the peaceful annexation of Cyre in the stead of Archos, who was needed in Thalmes to attend to business. Following the annexation, he was given orders to bring justice to a possibly renegade mercenary named Norman before proceeding to Cothos. Shortly after arriving in Outissia (and sending Norman back to the capital), he received a letter from Lord Jorgun Blundren reporting the defeat of his army at the hands of the Kingdom of Milesia, who were vassals of the Kingdom of Vasilaos. Rather than follow through with his orders, Lyander returned to Cyre, where he won the decisive Battle of Kingfall Wood. Needs to dust his mansion. Appearance and Personality Lyander is taller than average, with arms that are slightly longer than average for one of his size. He has a rough and weathered look to him that makes him appear around five years older than his twenty-four years of age, and his blue-gray eyes are quite good at conveying a certain ferocity. His build is quick and lean, rather than bulky and strong, and his skin usually appears rather dry. His hair is long, and acts as a makeshift padding for his simple helmet. His beard is cut to around an inch long at most. His eyebrows are low and scant. He possesses several scars, though none of them are from particularly serious injuries. The most noteworthy one is the one that runs diagonally across his right cheek, caused in a rather violent bar brawl. His beard is used to cover it up. His hands are heavily-calloused, with plenty of minor scarring. His personality has been tempered by ten long years as a mercenary. Despite this, he has a strong moral compass, and refuses to partake in the pointless slaughter of innocents. He is typically respectful towards the people he meets, unless they prove unworthy of his respect. He isn't very religious, but he isn't an atheist. He simply doesn't have a very strong opinion either way. He more prefers the practical rewards to the spiritual ones, with money being a key one. He lacks any formal education, and was almost completely illiterate at the start of the war. However, he is far from unintelligent, being a swift and dedicated learner. His mind for warfare and his ability to kill effectively also makes up for his lack of scholarly education. Equipment Lyander is typically armed with a bastard sword buckled on his left, and at least a couple daggers. He also travels armored in chainmail of decent quality covered in various scavenged plates looted from Lyander's past battlefields. His helmet is simple and effective, though it lacks decent padding. His shield is similarly plain, though reinforced with other scavenged materials. He is also the owner of a warhorse acquired in Werthing before he sailed on Billiam. It is a strong horse, trained for combat. History Early Life Lyander was born to two peasants by the name of Helvast and Lyvia, and spent the first thirteen years of his life living the lifestyle of your average peasant child. He helped manage the fields, hunted the nearby woods for food, and had a relatively hard childhood. A famine began in his twelfth year, and by his thirteenth year most of his village was dead. Starving and alone, Lyander proceeded on foot to the nearest major city of Silver's Crossing. With his only marketable skill being his archery, Lyander signed up as a levy archer in their war against Veyarch. For two years he fought in that army, killing his first man at a mere thirteen years old. After the war's conclusion, the army was disbanded. With nowhere to go, Lyander joined the army of the Demon Lord, which was raiding nearby. Learning the sword in service to his wicked ringleader, Lyander participated in numerous battles and engagements, working under such people as Rhygoth and Helmcros Barathusen. After a period of five years, the Demon Lord began to dismiss all mercenaries from his army, preferring the services of professional raiders. Being the mercenary that he had become, Lyander entered the service of Golde, which the Demon Lord was planning to attack. The Demon Lord attacked as planned, though Golde had raised every mercenary nearby. With their considerable force, they managed to resist the Demon Lord's demands. Lyander was kept on for a year as insurance (along with the other hired mercenaries) before being dismissed. He then began traveling from hold to hold, serving as a sellsword wherever he went. After serving Malport, Meisia, Duwest, and Greydoor, he heard about the assassination of the Demon Lord in Thalmes by his lieutenant Rhygoth. Deciding to investigate those rumors, he proceeded there on horseback. Eutricia Campaign Upon arriving in Thalmes, he discovered that Rhygoth had declared himself King of Thalmes, and had managed to gather a considerable number of generals (including Dagonet Archos, Mathurico Ui Lihanon, Kais Layeson, Cervantes Viteralli, Artinus Zention, and Reeve the Harbinger. These men (and woman) led vast hosts and pledged loyalty to Rhygoth. Lyander managed to secure employment with Lord Dagonet Archos and was assigned the duty of scouting out the Island of Eutricia in preparation for Archos's invasion. With fifty men, Lyander took a ship and landed off the coast. Rather than scout in the traditional sense (which would be noticed), he hired he and his men on with the Lord of Billiam. He managed to copy the lord's own maps, and became incredibly familiar with the city during his "employment". Lyander's plan was simple: he would wait for Archos to attack the city (leaving a man outside to explain the plan to him), and would open the gates to his army when he charged to assault the citadel. This plan was thwarted by Archos's slow pace in his peninsular campaigns, as well as the unexpected arrival of Helmcros Barathusen leading the remnants of the Demon Lord's army. This resulted in the Sack of Billiam, which Lyander managed to survive by remaining in the town's citadel with the rest of the army. Following this, the town's lord believed that the threat of the rising kingdom was over. He dismissed Lyander and his men, and Lyander (frustrated) began searching for Archos. Eventually managing to find him in Werthing, Lyander was given a small portion of Archos's army and the assignment to capture Billiam. Lyander devised a new plan to infiltrate the city, open the gates at night, and capture the town garrison before it could retreat to the citadel. This plan led to the Siege of Billiam, which resulted in the almost bloodless annexation of Billiam. After this, Lyander proceeded to Outissia to meet up with Lord Archos. Not finding him there (due to the city's capture by Lord Zention), he proceeded to Cyre. Cyre Campaigns Arriving to find Archos camped with his army down the coast from Cyre, Lyander was given the assignment of capturing Cyre while Archos went to the capital to attend to business (later revealed to be the matter of succession following King Rhygoth's death). Lyander called a parley with the city's Lord-Elect, Sythas, and through intrigue convinced him to peacefully join the Kingdom of Thalmes as a vassal of Lord Archos. It was at this point that Lord Jorgun Blundren, successor in the leadership of both Lady Kais's and Lord Cervantes's armies, arrived on Cyreca to fight a war against Vasilaos. After a short meeting with Lyander, he proceeded inland. Lyander, in the meantime, fulfilled his secret bargain with Sythas and granted him a force of men to seize the province of Caranta to the southeast of Cyre. Lyander waited in Cyre for close to a month for word from Archos, eventually receiving orders to proceed to Incussusia, bring justice to a possibly rogue mercenary named Norman (who had taken control of Lord Zention's army following his disappearance), and march on Cothos to seize it for Archos. He waited until Sythas's return, then sailed to Outissia. After negotiating successfully with Norman and sending him to Thalmes for judgement, Lyander received a letter from Lord Blundren telling of his catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Shub Wood. Deciding that defeating Vasilaos was more important than seizing Cothos, Lyander set sail for Cyreca. He arrived to find Cyre under blockade and siege. With no warships, he barely managed to evade catastrophy himself by making an emergency landing on the shores of Cyre. After retreating inland, he rushed his men into a nearby wood and prepared for an enemy counter-attack. King Dabid of Milesia, the enemy commander-in-chief, attacked less than an hour later with a force of 1,000 men, kicking off the Battle of Kingfall Wood while Lord Blundren (who was in Cyre) and Sythas fought the other half of Dabid's army in the Siege of Cyre. The result was a disaster for the enemy, with Lyander personally cutting down King Dabid and Lord Blundren routing the other army at the cost of his own life. After a night of celebrations in Cyre, Lyander marched on the city of Neanomascheins to bury Lord Blundren's body and find his next of kin. There he met Ela Blundren, Jorgun's cousin and blood heir. After buring Jorgun's body, he took Ela and her father as he marched on Innsport itself. There he met Lord Mathurico, as well as his army, and they negotiated an advantageous peace with Innsport that dismantled the short-lived Innsportian Empire and ceded all non-Innsportian lands to the Kingdom of Thalmes. Directly after this, Mathurico approached Lyander and organized a matrilineal marriage between Lyander and Ela (mainly because Lyander hadn't yet chosen a house name). They returned to Neanomascheins, where Lyander married Ela in a swift yet joyful ceremony. The wedding itself was quite red, with both the bride and groom wearing the color. The wedding party was very chaotic. Lyander himself killed a few muggers, and most of the wedding guests participated in the sacking of a warehouse loaded with alcohol. After a bit of confusion in the morning (and some string-pulling on the part of Mathurico to get everybody released from jail), the group continued on to Cyre, where ANOTHER enormous party commenced. This one led to Lyander slaying a small sea serpent, Mathurico getting into a bar brawl, Bill (Ela's father) waking up in a monastery, and plenty of other crazy things. They left the afternoon after that via ship with an escort of Cyre warships. The seas weren't completely calm however, as the mother of the sea serpent Lyander had slain while drunk came for revenge, sinking one of his ships off the coast of Sealharbor Island and nearly claiming the lives aboard. Fortunately, Mathurico was able to organize the warships while Lyander worked to save the lives of those aboard his ship. There were few casualties, and the ships continued on towards Thalmes. Return to Thalmes Category:Crown Category:Player Characters Category:Rulers and Lords